[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48107-48108]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19798]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-580-879]


Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products From the Republic of 
Korea: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative 
Review, and Rescission of Review, in Part; 2017

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Commerce) preliminarily determines 
that Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd./Dongbu Incheon Steel Co., Ltd. (Dongbu) 
received countervailable subsidies that are above de minimis, and that 
Hyundai Steel Company (Hyundai Steel) received countervailable 
subsidies that are de minimis. The period of review (POR) is January 1, 
2017 through December 31, 2017. Interested parties are invited to 
comment on these preliminary results.

DATES: Applicable September 12, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myrna Lobo or Jun Jack Zhao, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office VII, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-2371 and (202) 482-1396, 
respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On September 10, 2018, Commerce published a notice of initiation of 
an administrative review of the countervailing duty (CVD) order on CORE 
from Korea.\1\ On January 28, 2019, Commerce exercised its discretion 
to toll all deadlines affected by the partial federal government 
closure from December 22, 2018 through the resumption of operations on 
January 29, 2019.\2\ If the new deadline falls on a non-business day, 
in accordance with Commerce's practice, the deadline will become the 
next business day.\3\ On April 16, 2019, and July 23, 2019, Commerce 
extended the deadline for the preliminary results. The revised deadline 
for the preliminary results of this administrative review is September 
6, 2019.\4\ For a complete description of the events that followed the 
initiation of this review, see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.\5\ 
A list of topics discussed in the Preliminary Decision Memorandum is 
included at the appendix to this notice. The Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum is a public document and is on file electronically via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at http://access.trade.gov and is available to all 
parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Commerce 
building. In addition, a complete version of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov/frn/. The signed and electronic versions of the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \1\ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 83 FR 45596 (September 10, 2018) (Initiation 
Notice); see also Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Administrative Reviews, 83 FR 50077 (October 4, 2018) (Initiation 
Notice Correction), n.4.
    \2\ See Memorandum to the Record from Gary Taverman, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Operations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the 
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance, ``Deadlines 
Affected by the Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government,'' dated 
January 28, 2019. All deadlines in this segment of the proceeding 
have been extended by 40 days.
    \3\ See Notice of Clarification: Application of ``Next Business 
Day'' Rule for Administrative Determination Deadlines Pursuant to 
the Tariff Act of 1930, As Amended, 70 FR 24533 (May 10, 2005).
    \4\ See Memoranda, ``Extension of Deadline for Preliminary 
Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review--2017,'' dated 
April 16, 2019 and July 23, 2019.
    \5\ See Memorandum, ``Decision Memorandum for the Preliminary 
Results of the Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2017: 
Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from the Republic of 
Korea,'' dated concurrently with, and hereby adopted by, this notice 
(Preliminary Decision Memorandum).
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Scope of the Order

    The merchandise covered by the order is certain corrosion-resistant 
steel products. For a complete description of the scope of the order, 
see the Preliminary Decision Memorandum.

Rescission of Administrative Review, In Part

    Commerce initiated a review of 23 companies in this segment of the 
proceeding.\6\ The petitioners timely withdrew their request for review 
of Mitsubishi International Corp.,\7\ and no other party requested a 
review of this company. We are, therefore, rescinding the review with 
respect to Mitsubishi International Corp., in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.213(d)(1).
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    \6\ See Initiation Notice and Initiation Notice Correction.
    \7\ See the Petitioners' Letter, ``Withdrawal of Request for 
Administrative Review in Part, dated September 10, 2018.
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Methodology

    Commerce is conducting this review in accordance with section 
751(a)(l)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act). For each 
of the subsidy programs found countervailable, we preliminarily 
determine that there is a subsidy, i.e., a financial contribution from 
an authority that gives rise to a benefit to the recipient, and that 
the subsidy is specific.\8\ For a full description of the methodology 
underlying our conclusions, see the accompanying Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum.
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    \8\ See sections 771(5)(B) and (D) of the Act regarding 
financial contribution; section 771(5)(E) of the Act regarding 
benefit; and section 771(5A) of the Act regarding specificity.
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Companies Not Selected for Individual Review

    The statute and Commerce's regulations do not directly address the

[[Page 48108]]

establishment of rates to be applied to companies not selected for 
individual examination where Commerce limits its examination in an 
administrative review pursuant to section 777A(e)(2) of the Act. 
However, Commerce normally determines the rates for non-selected 
companies in reviews in a manner that is consistent with section 
705(c)(5) of the Act, which provides instructions for calculating the 
all-others rate in an investigation.
    Section 705(c)(5)(A)(i) of the Act instructs Commerce, as a general 
rule, to calculate an all-others rate equal to the weighted average of 
the countervailable subsidy rates established for exporters and 
producers individually investigated, excluding any zero, de minimis, or 
rates based entirely on facts available. In this review, the only 
preliminary subsidy rate above de minimis is the rate calculated for 
Dongbu. Therefore, for the companies for which a review was requested 
that were not selected as mandatory respondents, and for which we did 
not receive a timely request for withdrawal of review, and for which we 
are not finding to be cross-owned with the mandatory company 
respondents, we are applying the subsidy rate calculated for Dongbu.

Preliminary Results of Review

    As a result of this review, we preliminarily determine the net 
countervailable subsidy rates to be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Net countervailable subsidy
                 Company                  rate (percent ad valorem) 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dongbu Steel Co., Ltd./Dongbu Incheon     7.17
 Steel Co., Ltd.
Hyundai Steel Company...................  0.44 (de minimis)
Bukook Steel Co., Ltd...................  7.17
CJ Korea Express........................  7.17
DK Dongshin Co., Ltd....................  7.17
Dongbu Express..........................  7.17
Hongyi (HK) Hardware Products Co., Ltd..  7.17
Hyundai Glovis Co., Ltd.................  7.17
Jeil Sanup Co., Ltd.....................  7.17
POSCO...................................  7.17
POSCO C&C...............................  7.17
POSCO Daewoo Corp.......................  7.17
POSCO P&S...............................  7.17
Sejung Shipping Co., Ltd................  7.17
SeAH Steel..............................  7.17
Seil Steel Co., Ltd.....................  7.17
SK Networks Co., Ltd....................  7.17
Soon Hong Trading Co., Ltd..............  7.17
Taisan Construction Co., Ltd............  7.17
TCC Steel Co., Ltd......................  7.17
Young Sun Steel Co......................  7.17
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Assessment Rate

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, upon issuance of the 
final results, Commerce shall determine, and Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) shall assess, countervailing duties on all appropriate 
entries covered by this review. We intend to issue instructions to CBP 
15 days after publication of the final results of this review. For 
companies for which this review is rescinded, Commerce will instruct 
CBP to assess countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at a 
rate equal to the cash deposit of estimated countervailing duties 
required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for 
consumption, during the POR, in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.212(c)(1)(i). Commerce intends to issue appropriate assessment 
instructions directly to CBP 15 days after publication of this notice.

Cash Deposit Rate

    Pursuant to section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act, Commerce intends to 
instruct CBP to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing 
duties in the amount indicated above with regard to shipments of 
subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for 
consumption on or after the date of publication of the final results of 
this review. For all non-reviewed firms, we will instruct CBP to 
continue to collect cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties at 
the most recent company-specific or all-others rate applicable to the 
company, as appropriate. These cash deposit instructions, when imposed, 
shall remain in effect until further notice.

Disclosure and Public Comment

    Commerce intends to disclose to parties to this proceeding the 
calculations performed in reaching the preliminary results no later 
than ten days after the date of public announcement, or if there is no 
public announcement, within five days after the date of publication of 
these preliminary results.\9\ Case briefs or other written comments may 
be submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance 
at a date to be determined. Rebuttal briefs, limited to issues raised 
in case briefs, may be submitted no later than five days after the 
deadline date for case briefs.\10\ Parties who submit case briefs or 
rebuttal briefs are requested to submit with each argument: (1) A 
statement of the issue; (2) a brief summary of the argument; and (3) a 
table of authorities.\11\
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    \9\ See 19 CFR 351.224(b).
    \10\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(1)(ii) and 351.309(d)(1).
    \11\ See 19 CFR 351.309(c)(2) and (d)(2).
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    Interested parties who wish to request a hearing must do so within 
30 days of publication of these preliminary results by submitting a 
written request to the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and 
Compliance using Enforcement and Compliance's ACCESS system.\12\ 
Requests should contain the party's name, address, and telephone 
number, the number of participants, whether any participant is a 
foreign national, and a list of the issues to be discussed. If a 
request for a hearing is made, Commerce will inform parties of the 
scheduled date of the hearing which will be held at the U.S. Department 
of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230, at a 
time and date to be determined.\13\ Issues addressed during the hearing 
will be limited to those raised in the briefs.\14\ Parties should 
confirm by telephone the date, time, and location of the hearing two 
days before the scheduled date.
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    \12\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
    \13\ See 19 CFR 351.310.
    \14\ See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
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    Parties are reminded that all briefs and hearing requests must be 
filed electronically using ACCESS and received successfully in their 
entirety by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
    Unless the deadline is extended pursuant to section 751(a)(3)(A) of 
the Act, Commerce intends to issue the final results of this 
administrative review, including the results of our analysis of the 
issues raised by the parties in their comments, within 120 days after 
publication of these preliminary results.
    This administrative review and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.213 and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(4).

    Dated: September 6, 2019.
Jeffrey I. Kessler,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix--List of Topics Discussed in the Preliminary Decision 
Memorandum

I. Summary
II. Background
III. Period of Review
IV. Scope of the Order
V. Rescission of Administrative Review, In Part
VI. Rate for Non-Examined Companies
VII. Subsidies Valuation Information
VIII. Analysis of Programs
IX. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2019-19798 Filed 9-11-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P